[1992-02-22-SMW-TV] Interview: Ivan Koloff, Vladimir Koloff & Jimmy Golden

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I'm surprised Cornette would even try using a Nikita lookalike. The Fultons and Tim Horner quickly stop the interview and a brawl breaks out as the show goes off the air.

[Cox]

The first wild show-ending brawl to end an episode of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, but it won't be the last.

 

I think Vladimir had been teaming with Ivan for a year or two in North Carolina indies before they came to SMW, so I assume they were a package deal. He looked real clumsy in the ring in the few matches of his that I have seen, and was constantly out of position. Plus, he lacks the charisma and aura of Nikita too.

[Tim Evans]

I can't believe that Ivan took some of the chairshots that he did. Fun brawl but I never really liked the fake Fantastics. Just not the same without Tommy.

[shoe]

This was a great segment. Super wild brawl. The chair shots that Ivan took were nasty. I will say after watching Fulton in SMW I really began to like his fire, intensity, and his cement like punches. He also was an effective promo.

[rainmakerrtv]

The first wild show-ending brawl to end an episode of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, but it won't be the last.

 

I think Vladimir had been teaming with Ivan for a year or two in North Carolina indies before they came to SMW, so I assume they were a package deal. He looked real clumsy in the ring in the few matches of his that I have seen, and was constantly out of position. Plus, he lacks the charisma and aura of Nikita too.

Vladimir was the Snakes On A Train version of Nikita. Not even close to Nikita's physique and Nikita never had all that body hair (at least not in the ring). Ivan was pretty much wrestling for two.

[MikeCampbell]

This was a fun brawl, and a hot angle to end the TV show with. Too bad the Koloffs didn't stick around, but Fulton Bros would soon have the Bodies to feud with.

[WingedEagle]

The Koloffs & Golden beat down the Fantastics and Tim Horner makes his way out for the save. Am I drawing a total blank or was this always the SMW version of the Fantastics?

[PeteF3]

Fun, crazy brawl, that appears that it's going to break up a few times but then re-starts.

[GSR]

Vladimir was supposedly on official business in Russia, so Ivan had aligned himself and formed a team with Jimmy Golden. They faced The Fantastics and when Jackie had the sleeper on Golden, Vladimir rushes from out the back and clobbers Jackie with a boot allowing Golden to get the pin. The heels are being interviewed post match when Bobby Fulton makes his way over, attacks them all, drags Ivan to the ring and a mass arena wide brawl ensues. Tim Horner makes an appearance to even up the sides and they continue to brawl as the end credits rolls over them all. Dutch Mantel is superb on commentary during this, claiming it is out of order what the Fantastics and Horner are doing and he's going to write to Commissioner Armstrong!

[garretta]

This is the kind of hot brawl that a territory needs to put itself on the map. I've never associated guys like Tim Horner and Bobby Fulton with hardcore brawls like this, but they (and Jackie) do very well against Uncle Ivan, Golden, and whoever Vladimir's supposed to be.

 

If Vlad's supposed to look like Nikita, then someone needs to have their eyes checked. He's not even a believable monster Russian. What else did he ever do in the business? He sure didn't have much of a future in this gimmick.

 

When I watched Will's SMW set, I fell in love with Bob and Dutch as a commentary team, and I was reminded of why when I watched this. Bob always keeps things on the straight and narrow, which allows Dutch to run wild if he chooses. But he doesn't, at least not as often as you'd think. In this case, his threat to write a letter to Bullet Bob is a perfectly reasonable response for someone who doesn't wish to see innocent people get beaten up, and although you know he's irritated, he doesn't yell or scream or make all kinds of idle threats. He always leaned heel in SMW, but first and foremost he was out for himself. Not many commentators can truly pull that off well; about the closest I've come across might be 1981-82 Roddy Piper in GCW, and he eventually went full-on heel and started wrestling. Outside of a few bouts with Fuller and Golden in '93, Dutch stayed out of the ring.

 

Corny didn't put himself in the credits, I notice. Not that it's a big deal, but most promoters or bookers gave themselves a producer or executive producer credit on their promotion's TV programming. Even Vince was listed as an executive producer of SNME during its days on NBC, and I could have sworn I saw his name in the end credits of various USA shows occasionally. (He was also listed as the executive producer of WrestleMania I, which is the only one I know of ever to have end credits.)

[dawho5]

I marked out a little bit for Dutch threatening to write a letter. Both for how awesome it was and for the Memphis angle in '91 where some egg-suckin' dog wrote him a nasty letter. Caudle and Dutch do make an incredible pairing. That and how well this brawl was pulled off by 5 of the participants(looking at you, Vladmir) have me looking forward to lots more SMW. Even if Tommy Rogers isn't around , Bobby Fulton is still throwing sweet punches, so I am on board with the Fantastics.